Archive for the ‘Occasions Mini Catalog 2009’ Category:
Dessert With Breakfast: Perfect Way to Start the Day
Ah, the breakfast of champions… plus dessert. Yesterday began with a breakfast reception for all the current and past Stampin’ Up! Advisory Board members, and that breakfast ended with fabulous caramel-drizzled blintzes. (Don’t tell my kids that I had dessert with breakfast–that’s a no-no at our house!)
Really though, it was a great chance to catch up with friends that I only see a couple times a year–at Stampin’ Up! events! (yup, one more fun reason to become a Demonstrator 
Here I am, visiting with my friend Lynsay Mahon and Amy Swartz, the marketing director at Stampin’ Up!.
The morning started out with 1000 Stampin’ Up! demonstrators gathered in a big hall. Shelli Gardner (co-founder of Stampin’ Up!) shared part of the story of how Stampin’ Up! was started, and she encouraged us all to share our own story. Guess I’ll need to blog about that soon
The morning also included fabulous demonstrations of new products from the Occasions Mini Catalog (yay for all the new goodies–check out some of my recent Occasions Mini project posts!) Here are two projects that Pam Morgan shared with the Eggcellent Eggs Kit (117179). If you like these, don’t wait too long–they’re only available while supplies last.
The kit is definitely not just for decorating eggs — these are napkin rings for any occasion, although they’d be perfect for a baby shower! The baby shower invites below also use the egg kit–the little tiny flowers, and of course the sticky-back rhinestones for a little ‘bling’ on the girl invite.
The morning also included Prize Patrol, which is where we have a chance to get FREE stamps (or other goodies) that have been demonstrated during the session–and Mary Ellen Stites and Laurie Stiegelmeier won from our group–hooray!!
The Sweet Treat Cups were also shown– with HEART cups!! These little guys are so cute, plus they have a new matching stamp set and you can use the big Full Heart Punch to make the hole for your heart-shaped cup. You can learn more about the limited-time offer with the flyer. And the little confetti is the punchie pieces from the new Pinking Hearts Border Punch.
Lunch was a sit-down affair with yummy chocolate dessert and a HUGE grilled chicken salad. Yum! The food at Leadership is always fabulous 
And speaking of food, we had dinner as part of the Manager’s Reception that evening. We were taken to a ranch on the edge of Phoenix for a Mexican Rodeo, dinner, and wonderful entertainment from a dance troupe that shared heritage dances from around Mexico. Here’s us sitting in the bleachers, shaking our maracas!
And this is the gorgeous table setting– complete with gerbera daisies (my favorites were the Melon Mambo ones We also each received the new Love Bandit stamp set (so cute!) and a brightly colored re-bo-zo, a traditional Mexican shawl.
And for dessert (are you seeing a theme for today?) we had empanadas stuffed with pumpkin, lemon or apple filling, plus cinnamon whipped cream. I had to include a picture because we decided that they must have cut the dough using a Big Shot and a Scallop Circle Die
Okay, on to day 2 of Leadership! More later!!
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Subscribe to the comments for this postManhattan Flower Vellum Video Tutorial
Here is another gorgeous project using the Manhattan Flower Embossing Folder for the Big Shot. This Video Tutorial is actually one of the many that I create for my Stamps in the Mail Club members each month.
If you’ve never seen the Embossing Folders in action, definitely check this out! Also I have included a tip for using the Scallop Oval Punch and a tip on tying knots so that the “nice” side shows on your project.
Need more ideas for similar projects?
- I recently used this embossing folder on a gorgeous wedding invitation…
- And here’s another idea for using the folder with regular Whisper White cardstock…
Window Sheet Beautlful Butterflies
So that Big Shot machine cuts 50 materials, right? So how about the Printed Window Sheets? Yup! No problem!
This is one of the cards my Stamps in the Mail Club members are making during June. We started in May, but you can still jump in as a Club Member! Drop me an email with questions.
Supplies:
- Stamps — Oval All
- Paper — Riding Hood Red, Bella Rose Designer Series Paper, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Printed Window Sheets
- Ink — Chocolate Chip
- Accessories — Button Bouquet, Riding Hood Red Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Beautiful Butterflies Big Shot Die, Big Shot, Scallop Circle #2 Die, Scallop Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch
**Cutting Tip** The card is sized at 4-1/4″ x 4-1/4″. That way I can make the most of my Designer Series Paper sheets. Since those are 12 x 12″, I can cut the panel for the front at 4×4″ and get 9 for each piece of paper.
Check out some of my other recent Big Shot projects…
Easy-Peasy Candy Pouch Gift or Favor
This time of year it seems that everyone is looking for easy favor ideas, whether for picnics, showers, weddings or birthday parties. And there are a lot of cute boxes out there! I often tell people that I’m a lazy stamper though… I like to do projects that are easy to re-create and fairly simple, especially if I’m planning to make very many of the same thing.
This is a Candy Pouch that I designed using the Stampin’ Up! exclusive Top Note Die for the Big Shot die-cut machine. It’s SO easy!!
Here are the steps:
- Use your Big Shot to die-cut 3 layers at once: the Designer Series Paper (here, Walk in the Park from the Occasions Mini Catalog), and 2 pieces of cardstock (here, Baja Breeze–retiring June 30th!)
- Fold the 2 cardstock Top Notes up about 1/2″ along one long side.
- Inside the folded piece on one of the Top Notes, add a strip of Sticky Strip adhesive. Attach the two cardstock Top Notes together on the folded edges, to make the body of the candy pouch.
- Fold the DSP Top Note in half, the long way. Place a piece of Sticky Strip on the inside of one side to attach it as a fold-over cover to the main candy pouch.
- Trim a Medium Cello Bag so that it fits inside the candy pouch and attach it inside the pouch with 1.5″ of Sticky Strip.
- Use a Stampin’ Around Wheel to roll designs onto Avery Mailing Labels (the 30-to-a-sheet kind) and wrap Hershey’s Treasures candies with the labels. Sure, you could use something else, but these fit so perfectly!
- Tuck the candy into the cello bag.
- Tie a piece of ribbon (here, White Taffeta Ribbon) around the pouch to hold it closed.
- Decorate the outside with a tag. Here I used the Scallop Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch and Oval All stamp set.
- Give to friend!
Wedding Cards, with one for a Black Tie Event
Here are a couple more wedding idea cards–it’s getting to be wedding season, and you’ll definitely want to put some cards together!
This one is great because you can probably already make it with supplies at home. The white cardstock is actually Shimmery White in the sample, which adds a gorgeous luster. And the ribbon around the dress waist is White Taffeta. Note how the dress overlaps the center fold? It’s those extra little details that make a card extra-special! Thanks to Rachel Chamberlain for creating this beauty!
The next card (I feel like I’m announcing a fashion show is created in Pink Pirouette and Basic Gray using the soon-to-be-retired To Have And To Hold stamp set. Another new demonstrator in my LovenStampfuls group created this one–Betsy Crider. ** Technique Tip: She came up with the idea of using her Blender Pen on her White Craft Pad to do the white watercoloring on the stamped dress! Very cool, Betsy!
And here is another gorgeous center-fold card, by new demonstrator Sue Millenbaugh. Wow, some very talented new demonstrators!! Sue used her Stampin’ Write Markers to color the lily of the valley stamp in Old Olive and Lavender Lace before she stamped onto the cardstock. And of course we have to love that Scallop Oval Punch in the center!!
I’m loving the chance to share all these wedding ideas with you!
Little Trees Circle Pop-Up Card for Stamp Club
I promised another circle pop-up card, and here it is! This is the Trendy Trees stamp set version that my Stamp Club members will be making this week during Club.
If you’ve never joined me for my Stamp Club with Meg, feel free to try it out this week! You can come any time as a guest and either pay a $10 supply fee or it’s free with a $19.95 minimum order placed that night.
In May we meet the 11th, 12th and 14th, and it’s from 6:30 to 8:30 in my Stamping Studio in Mahomet, Illinois. Contact me for directions and to let me know which night you’re planning to join us!
For this 
card we’re using the Raspberry Tart Designer Series Paper, plus Classic ink in Kiwi Kiss and Rose Red. The circles were cut with the Circle Scissor Plus (love it!). The greetings are from the Garden Greetings stamp set that I received for free at the Stampin’ Up! Manager’s Reception back at Leadership in Orlando last January. Need I point out that I LOVE being a demonstrator and that you could join the fun? 
Stamps in the Mail Club: Pop-Up Circle Card
After you check out the video, I thought you might like to see more shots of the project… I love these circle cards! My Stamp Club with Meg meets next week, and we’ll be making a similar card using the Raspberry Tart Designer Series Paper.
To receive a kit in the mail with everything you need to make this pop-up circle card, sign up for my Stamps in the Mail Club!
Stamps in the Mail Club: SNEAK PEEK
It’s that time again! Yes, my next round of the Stamps in the Mail Club begins this month, so if you’d like to try it out, now is the time!
Stamps in the Mail Club runs for 3 months–May, June and July, and each month you’ll get $30-35 in product from the Stampin’ Up! catalog, plus pre-cut supplies for 4 projects AND Exclusive Video Tutorials plus printed directions for each of the projects.
The cost each month is $40 plus $5, for a total of $45 each month. That’s a great deal, considering you get projects, stamping supplies and extra video tutorials! At the end of the 3 months you have a fabulous set of coordinating supplies plus 12 ideas on what to do with them.
I wanted to share one of the projects for the May kit by video, since a still photo just doesn’t do it justice.
Here you go!
This round we’ll feature the wonderful Oval All stamp set, and the Scallop Oval Punch, and those are the 2 products you’ll receive with your May kit. Already own them? No problem–just pick something else from the catalog instead.
If you’d like more details on my Stamps in the Mail Club, you can visit my website. You can even pay by PayPal, right there, or right here
More Matchbox Dresser Drawers
Okay, I’m nearly done showing you these cute Matchbox Dressers! This one uses the Raspberry Tart Designer Series Paper (so add that one to your list of papers to Buy 3, Get One Free in May!). These days I love anything with Kiwi Kiss in it, so Raspberry Tart is one of my favorites.
Check out those cute Kiwi Kiss Corduroy Buttons used as drawer pulls. These are the smaller size of the 3 button types that come in the box. And the tag on top uses one of the tags that is also on the Matchbox Die.
I even added little Kiwi Kiss Corduroy Buttons as the feet on this mini-dresser. So cute!
Big Shot Matchbox Jewelry Box
Some projects are just so beautiful that I can’t believe they’re hand-made and use all Stampin’ Up! products… but WOW, this one is absolutely gorgeous, all hand-made and 100% Stampin’ Up! supplies!!
Thanks so much to Mary Ellen Stites for sharing this baby–she showed it at one of the demonstrations at my Occasions Mini Catalog Open House a week ago, one of SEVERAL fabulous uses of the Matchbox Bigz XL Die for the Big Shot. This is a new die from the Occasions Mini Catalog, so you won’t find it in the main catalog–but check for it in the Occasions Mini Catalog!
The project uses two of the ‘drawer’ piece from the Matchbox die, and the new Walk in the Park Designer Series Paper (also from the Occasions Mini Catalog, and also on the May Stampin’ Up! special!)
The colors are Kiwi Kiss and So Saffron, and the Fabulous Friend greeting AND the gorgeous apple blossoms come from the Oval All stamp set, which you can get as part of my May Stamps in the Mail Club. See how the flowers are cut out from the “fabulous friend” stamp image?
The details on this project are my favorite part… Supernova glitter on the flowers, Pretties Kit half-back pearls, Button Bouquet buttons for the drawer pulls… wow… truly a work of art!
Oh, and by the way… if you order my $99 Starter Kit during May, you could order the supplies to create this work of art using at least a 20% discount!
